This past Thursday marked the first day of Week #3, which is the LAST (official) WEEK of the cleanse! YES!
The recipes this week now incorporate grains (still gluten-free, such as oats, rice, and quinoa), almond milk, and eggs.
I am really happy to be eating grains again.
Thursday morning we tried the new smoothie of the week, which sounded intriguing.
Avocado-Vanilla Smoothie. Weird. However, it was supremely creamy, and the pear nectar (thank you, Ocean State Job Lot!) gave it just the right amount of sweetness. We liked it!
I had a hard time taking a good picture of it in the car...but it was a nice light green color. =)
For lunch (enough for Thursday and Friday), we made Rice Noodles with Broccoli-Almond Pesto. It was very tasty and much more filling than the black bean salad had been. This meal was pretty easy to make, but I forgot to take pictures. Here's basically what you do:
- Briefly boil a head of broccoli in salted water.
- You will use the water again to soften the rice noodles, and then to add to pesto to make it creamy.
- Set aside 1c. of florets, chopped, to sprinkle on top.
- Blend broccoli in a food processor with:
- 1/4 c. (or more) fresh basil
- 6 Tbsp. toasted sliced almonds
- 1 garlic clove (I used 2)
- 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 6 Tbsp. olive oil.
For dinner Thursday, we made Mushrooms and Brown Rice En Papillote (in parchment paper packets--say that five times fast!)
The recipe called for Shiitake mushrooms, which I bet are higher in nutritional value than what we used, but they were also about as much per pound as our salmon from last week, so instead we used a pack of regular mushrooms that were in the reduced produce rack (score!).
This one was really easy to make too! I had made the brown rice the night before, since it takes so long, which I was really happy about.
On each parchment sheet, add:
1/2 c. brown rice, 1 c. thinly sliced mushrooms,
2 sprigs of thyme, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
wrap up, like so, and bake for 20 min. at 425 degrees.
Serve with fresh greens and lemon wedges:
Open packet, mix in greens, and squirt all over with lemon! Yum!
It wasn't the most filling meal, but it was tasty, and smelled really good. Later, I made some homemade apple-pear sauce as a special treat to enjoy while catching up on The New Girl.
Quick & Easy Apple-Pear Sauce:
- Peel and core an apple and pear (or don't peel...I peeled the apple but not the pear)
- Roughly chop (1 inch pieces?)
- Add to small saucepan with a little water (2-3 Tbsp.?) over medium heat.
- Sprinkle in spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg
- Simmer for about 10 minutes, until fruit is soft.
- Mash with a potato masher (blend with an immersion blender, if you want it to be smoother)
- Spoon into two small bowls and enjoy!
Friday, January 20
On Friday, we tried the Toasted Coconut Muesli for breakfast. It was delish! Next time we make it, I'll cut the apples up smaller, so they're easier to eat in the car, but the meal itself was really yummy.
It was especially good with fresh blackberries that were on sale at Market Basket!
Lunch on Friday was part 2 of the Rice Noodles with Broccoli Pesto, and we were going to make the mushroom and rice dinner again, but instead we made the Roasted Winter Veggies and Cannellini Beans from last week, since we still had enough ingredients. Also, that way, Mike could pack it for lunch on his ski trip that he decided to help chaperone.
It was a little tricky figuring out what to pack him for his ski trip, since he wouldn't be able to heat anything up (i.e. soup) and he would need some filling options. We decided that Baked Sweet Potato with Citrus would make a good hearty breakfast, and that the Roasted Veggies (I made a BIG batch with extra veggies!) would make a nice satisfying lunch, plus a little extra for after skiing, and then I packed him with plenty of snacks.
Earlier in the week, Mike had made dried apples (after being annoyed that store prices for dried fruit were so high!) 
So I made him a trail mix with almonds, raisins, pumpkin seeds, and chopped up dried apple rings. I thought it looked pretty darn good!
I also tried my hand at one of the snacks from the Whole Living website for the first time. It was Roasted Spiced Chickpeas. I think they turned out pretty well, although I put the cover on their container too soon and they turned out to be a little more chewy than crunchy, but they're still good. I can't stop eating them.
Saturday, January 21
Since I was making the Sweet Potato breakfast for Mike, I figured I might as well make it for myself too! I realized that I had made the same breakfast for last Saturday too. Apparently it's a good Saturday morning breakfast. =) Last time I didn't take pictures of the finished product, so I did this morning.
I added shredded coconut to the topping mixture, since we had some...it was a good addition!
I liked the combination of the oranges and browns and the sweet-spicy flavors...
even the tea matched the theme!
I had to get a shot of the steam coming up from the mug! So cozy!
I tried to get the snow in the background, too, but you can't really see it.
Today's lunch, for me, was leftover roasted veggies and beet soup. And the roasted chickpeas that I can't stop eating. =)
Now it's time to get off my butt and start getting my to-do list done (update blog, check!).
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